In the current information age, information technology (IT) tools play a significant role in our daily activities, and there are often discussions of the desirableness of a paperless society. IT tools such as scanners and multi-function printers (MFP) are utilized to convert hardcopy documents into electronic form, thereby decreasing the need for physical storage space and at the same time allowing the information in the paper documents to be transmitted quickly and more readily.
When a hardcopy document is scanned using a conventional scanner or MFP, the user may be permitted to change scan settings and configurations. However, in conventional MFPs, the user usually does not have the capability of adding data, such as metadata (e.g., data regarding the scanned document and not shown in the document image), to the file containing the scan output. In the conventional art, even when a MFP allows the user to add metadata to the output file containing the scanned document, the process for adding metadata is highly repetitive when a collection of documents is to be scanned.
There is a need for an improved approach that streamlines registration of metadata in connection with documents.